Luxury Travel Magazine

Corinthia Hotel Budapest, originally the Grand Hotel Royal, launches a new package to celebrate the Oscar success of 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and cinematic past and present of Hungary’s capital. The buzz around Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ has been firmly reinstated – as the movie ran away with four Oscars. Did Anderson perhaps get his inspiration for this enchanting hotel when he stayed at and did a back-of-house tour at Corinthia Hotel Budapest in 2012? More...

portfolio.hu

The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) is to launch the FGS+ programme to give a boost to lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, central bank Governor György Matolcsy has told a press conference on Wednesday. Contrary to previous reports, the Funding for Growth Scheme will be expanded not to large corporates but to SMEs that have carried too high risks for the banks to lend them at a rate capped at 2.5%. Matolcsy believes the FGS will add one percentage point to growth this year and probably in 2016 too. More...

- (Telegraph) The Russian president said that Hungary and Russia had “unquestionable potential for increasing cooperation in the economic sphere.”

- (Reuters) Hungary and Russia have reached a political deal on Russian gas shipments to Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

- (Associated Press) Orban said "Hungary needs Russia" and it was important for Russia to be open to Hungarian products, which have been affected by Russia's ban on EU imports - a countermeasure to EU sanctions against Russia because of the Ukraine crisis.

- (novinite.com) The Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom will start the construction of two units at the Hungarian nuclear power plant (NPP) Paks in the spring. This was announced by the chief executive of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko in Budapest on Tuesday, TASS news agency reports.

Russian Times

Vladimir Putin has chosen Hungary for his first state visit to an EU state since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis a year ago. Energy issues are expected to top the agenda, yet the Russian leader usually has an ace up his sleeve. More...

bbj.hu / Gabriella Lovas (The article is from the February 13-26 print edition of the Budapest Business Journal)

While the 2008 financial crisis questioned the justification for structured products globally, the recent decision of the Swiss National Bank to scrap the euro peg has revealed risks - not previously perceived by domestic investors - for the entire Hungarian market of derivative funds, according to Blochamps Capital CEO István Karagich.

European Plastics News

Gurit, the Swiss composite materials group, has announced a three step plan to shape the future of its Composite Components business, which will result in a CHF 6m (€5.65m) investment programme during 2015 at the company’s existing production facility in Hungary, but will also see job cuts in UK. More...

Budapest Business Journal / Christian Keszthelyi

Hungarian retail sales grew by a year-on-year 5.1% in November according to both calendar year-adjusted and unadjusted data, however the figures were revised slightly down from 5.2% in a first reading released on January 8, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) reported today in a second reading of data. More...

BloombergBusiness /by Marton EderZsofia Vegh

The lowest inflation in almost five decades and unprecedented stimulus in the neighboring euro area is prompting Hungary’s central bank to revisit a pledge to keep interest rates on hold this year. More...

Exactly one month from today, about 1000 business representatives from 45 European countries, including 21 from Hungary, will gather in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels for the third edition of the European Parliament of Enterprises (EPE).  The European Parliament of Enterprises is the largest event at EU level that gives the floor directly to entrepreneurs, allowing them to provide politicians with bottom-up feedback on EU policies. For more, click on the title.

In Serbia News

Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria, and the chambers of commerce of these countries support the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, arguing that it will help the economic development of these countries and they therefore expect that the EU and Russia will come to an agreement concerning the project. More...

The Telegraph

If you like tokaji, you’re already a fan of furmint. And now its time has come. Hungary’s furmint seems to be having a bit of a moment. You may not have heard of it yet (and yes, it does sound like a toy for cats), but furmint is a grape variety you’ve quite possibly enjoyed before, without knowing. More...

WSJ Emerging Europe - By Leos Rousek

Central Europe’s factory output was mixed in July, going strong in the Czech Republic and Hungary, but hitting a bump in Poland reflecting varied domestic demand across the region and different connections with key euro-zone export markets, data showed Friday. More...

• By
• Leos Rousek

Reuters - By Krisztina Thán

Hungary could risk a selloff in its currency by converting its huge stock of Swiss franc and euro mortgages into forints as the timing looks tricky: the planned conversion will take place after the Fed ends its stimulus programme. More...

portfolio.hu

Hungary’s construction output grew by 28.7% year on year in May, according to both unadjusted and working day adjusted data, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported on Tuesday. Output rose in annual terms in both main groups of constructions: i.e. in the construction of buildings and civil engineering works by 17.0% and 40.4% respectively. Construction output was up 2.2% month on month, according to figures adjusted seasonally and for working days. In the first five months of 2014, the production was up by 27.8% compared to the same period of 2013. More...

Bloomberg - By Edith Balázs

Hungary expects the government’s debt level to stagnate this year after the European Union warned the country should lower the borrowing burden to avert re-entering the bloc’s budget monitoring process. The cabinet forecasts government debt will be 78.15 percent of annual output at end-2014, compared with 78.26 percent a year earlier, according to an Economy Ministry projection published by research group Fiscal Responsibility Institute on its website. - More...

porfolio.hu

Hungary’s industrial gross output grew by 9.6% year on year in May 2014, according to both raw figures and data adjusted for working days, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported on Monday. On a monthly basis, though, industrial production dropped 1.0%. More...

Portfolio.hu

Hungary's foreign trade surplus has become smaller and smaller with every month recently. The May figure is in line with that trend, revealing a minor setback in export dynamic, with imports growing faster than exports do. More...

Mobile World Live - by Richard Handford

The Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association has put a figure of 350,000 to 400,000 on the number of initial users for its proposed payments and loyalty service. More....

Central Statistical Office

- The volume of retail trade rose slightly in May. The restructuring of tobacco retailing has also led to changes in statistical data records, making H1 figures incomparable to those in the first six months of the previous year. Read the full report at the CSO's website.

- External trade surplus was EUR 629 million in April. Y/o/y the volume of exports was 6.5% higher. Read the full report at CSO's website. 

- Preliminary data show the deficit of the general government sector in Q1 2014 was HUF 256.6 billion, or 3.6% of GDP. Read the full report at the CSO's website.

New York Times - By Lisa Abend

It took only a few minutes after the door locked behind us for the atmosphere in the cramped room to turn tense. A hasty note, left behind on a battered table, warned us that we had only an hour to get out, and it soon became clear that our escape route lay behind a second door. More...

Reuters

Hungary's banks accused the government on Tuesday of holding them collectively responsible for borrowers' problems after shifts in the exchange rate soured once-popular foreign currency mortgages. More...

Central Statistical Office

- Agricultural producer prices decreased by 8.9% in April 2014 y/o/y. The price of crop products fell by 13.6% and that of live animals and animal products increased by 0.9%. - Full report on CSO website.

- In April 2014, industrial gross output grew by 10.1% compared to the same month of 2013 due to mainly a rise in the sales of transport equipment and the related supplier branches, as well as of food industry. - Full report on CSO website.
- In May consumer prices decreased by 0.1% compared to May 2013. - Full report on CSO website.

Budapest Business Journal

The special taxes on the the financial, energy, retail and telecommunications sectors will remain in place for as long as the ruling Fidesz government is in power, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said today. More...

The National - John Burton

Budapest is one of Europe’s hottest destinations right now. Lauded a century ago as the glittering Paris of Mitteleuropa, the capital of Hungary is in the midst of a new renaissance, with its sumptuous turn-of-the-century palaces brought back to life as luxurious hotels, along with a foodie revolution sweeping through the city from gourmet restaurants to funky food trucks. There are cutting-edge art and design projects springing up in everything from ruined mansions to abandoned factories, a hip nightlife scene that rivals London or Berlin, while the city’s iconic thermal baths, which have been the favourite pastime of locals for 500 years, are being spruced up and transformed into modern spas without losing any of their unique charm. More...

Bloomberg - By Zoltán Simon

Hungary’s industrial-output growth unexpectedly accelerated at the fastest pace in three years as carmakers raised production, boosting Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s bid to regain the country’s investment credit grade. More...